Water
by MithrilEvanesco
Summary: Some things happen because of fate, some things happen because that's what you chose. You can't choose the person you love, but you can choose the person you marry, hopefully they're the same person. Rated M for later. Start PreThor movies, not sure where it's ending.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So just a quick word before you begin reading this, I do not know much about the Thor World, just what I've gleaned on my own, I do not know nearly as much as I should so forgive me if some things feel off (it shouldn't I did my research :P). I already have 4-5 chapters lined up so let me know when you want more! Meanwhile I'll be doing my best to finish this story :)**

Water

Chapter 1

Nia stood quietly with a group of four other girls, five total. They were standing in the front entrance of Odin's palace, she couldn't believe she had been chosen; granted she was of noble birth, a Lord's daughter, but not her. There were far prettier girls in Asgard, smarter ones too. Nia wasn't stupid or ugly, she was just well, normal. Her ash blonde hair was long and gently curled and she had warm brown eyes, sadly she didn't have an overly shapely body as many girls, but the curves were there. She was nothing special, that she knew, no special talents lurking behind her outward appearance.

Surprisingly she had already seen a few suitors, none of which she had been keen on, neither had her parents, therefore those ended in rejection, except Marcus. Marcus was a man who worked as a warrior in Odin's army, hardly a suitable match for a noble-born girl such as herself. Marcus was hardly unworthy though, he swept Nia away in the heat of the night, to ride in the valley, and walk through the streets. She just hadn't been able to break it to her parents yet, until her father told her she had been chosen for the Prince.

Nia still couldn't grasp the idea that she had been chosen for the Prince to court. Many noblemen had a few banquets each year and chose a bride from those, any girl would be lucky to be married off to a man with status so there wasn't much courting involved, they chose and the girl went willingly. The Princes of Asgard did the same, they held a few banquets and chose any number of girls who would come to the palace and from there he would chose one girl to whom he'd marry.

Thor was awaiting his choice in brides, as Sif was still an all likely option, a preferred choice that is. However the younger Prince had not taken a specific interest in any woman, therefore Odin was announcing his betrothal to a girl of his choice.

Loki was standing in the throne room, he really didn't want to do this; him married? The only one more excited than Thor was Frigga, the only reason Thor was excited was the endless amount of teasing he could now lay on Loki.

"Father, is this really necessary?" Loki drawled again, fiddling with a ring he wore on his middle right finger.

"No Loki, it's not. But I think it would be good for you. You haven't shown any interest in any of the young ladies who come through Asgard, so now you must choose one. It's mostly for peacekeeping purposes, these are the daughters of important men in our world and being in their good graces could really change Asgard." Odin said with finality.

_Great, _Loki thought, _I'm just being forced into this because of politics._ He sighed and followed Thor into another room where the girls were waiting.

He observed them all carefully, if he was going to have to put up with one of these for any extended period of time she had better look nice. He immediately ruled two girls out; both had sunny golden hair and bright blue eyes, they looked far too similar to the rest of his family. He wanted a girl who looked different, like him. Out of the remaining three he dipped into their minds, one was admiring Thor, gone. Another was wondering how in the Nine Realms she had ended up there, and the last one was wondering how long until Loki chose her. Loki looked at the five girls with distaste none of them suited him. He couldn't look at two of them, one of them fancied his brother, and another was so cocky that her confidence rivaled his own. The girl standing in the middle however was now thinking about her cat and how lonely she must be at home with no one to look after her. Rolling his eyes Loki took a deeper look into her mind, she was well educated and brought up within society. But then a blue streak entered her mind, as soon as it was there, it had gone, it had been there for a split second before she had managed to shove it to the back of her mind.

Loki grinned, she had magic in her blood; not a lot, but it was there. He smiled at his father and preceded to walk towards the girls, this could be a little fun. He looked at each one of them; all of them hopeful save the magic one, she was scared. Turning his back Loki merely walked up to Odin and said, "The blonde in the middle," and left.

Frigga shook her head as she watched Loki leave, "What a useless boy" she murmured fondly. She walked up to the girl in the middle and held out a hand to her, the girl was obviously frightened, but took it. "The rest of you are dismissed." Frigga said, "Now, what's your name? I know you are Aster's daughter."

Nia nodded, "My name is Nia." She spoke quietly.

Frigga smiled, "Come along then, I'll show you to your chambers." As the Queen led the terrified girl through the corridors she began talking, "I remember when I was young and betrothed to Odin, I was scared out of my wits! It's not too bad dear, Loki is a tough nut to crack, but he's worth it." Frigga gave Nia an encouraging smile, "I promise."

She opened a heavy door; inside was lit with candles and distinctly femininely decorated. "Anything you wish to have brought here from your home, inform me and I will see to it that it is done." Frigga smiled again before leaving the room.

Nia couldn't help but be in awe at the splendor she found herself in, her home had been wonderful and her parents had been wealthy, but it was nothing in comparison to where she was now. Her bed was far too large for her and had the most pillows she had ever seen on one bed. She opened the closet and found gowns for every occasion hanging; in the drawers she found underwear and slips, as well as a satin robe.

All she could do was sigh and walk to the window, the window opened up all of Asgard to her and she figured she could pinpoint her house from there. She breathed on the window to create a fog and then drew idly in the window; her thoughts were those of Marcus and with those thoughts sadness welled up inside her.

"What in the Nine Realms are you doing?" A smooth voice interrupted her.

Startled Nia spun clumsily around and stood face-to-face with her intended. Loki stood in front of her with a raised brow wondering how he had managed to pick the crazy girl.

"Please don't make me believe I picked the deranged girl? I didn't did I?" He asked.

"N-no, your Highness. I was just drawing in the fog." She muttered looking down.

Loki shook his head, "No formalities please, you will call me Loki as I will call you Nia. And why would you draw there, you have paper and writing utensils at your disposal?" He looked genuinely confused; this made Nia want to laugh.

"Forgive me, Loki," She giggled, "But have you never done something just for the sake of doing it? There doesn't have to be a meaning or a reason behind everything. I draw in the fog on the window because it makes Asgard look different, it skews my perspective and makes me think a little bit harder about the where I am." She looked longingly out the window again; droplets of water had streaked through her drawing of a horse making it almost undecipherable.

"So I picked the philosophical one?" Loki asked.

"I suppose so." Nia said wistfully.

"You do not want to be here." He stated.

Nia gave him a sad smile, "No, I don't."

"Was there someone else?" Loki asked.

She felt her face heat, "Yes," Nia lowered her head, "But it wasn't suitable anyways."

Loki smirked, "A commoner then?"

"A warrior in your father's army." She sighed.

His smirk faltered, he couldn't compete with a warrior. "Do you wish I hadn't picked you?"

Nia felt a pang of sadness at the thought of never seeing Marcus again, but there was also an underlying sense of adventure. She looked up at Loki and gave him a smile, "No, can you imagine the scandals those other four girls would have caused? I'm sure the one would have started sleeping with your brother." Nia laughed.

Loki graced her with a laugh, "Yes the other four did not have any pure thoughts of having me, and they merely wanted the life that came with it. You however weren't thinking about anything like that, I do recall you thinking of a cat." Loki gave her a bemused look.

Once again Nia felt her face heat up, "Oh gods, I can't believe you read that. I'm sorry, she's my cat and I'm worried my mother will toss her once she hears I'm not going back home. Wait a minute, you heard me think of my cat?"

Loki gave her a lazy smile, "The possibilities of magic are endless. Is your cat one thing you'd like to come here?" Loki asked.

Nia pondered his answer about the magic, he was said to be more than proficient at it, and she didn't see why he couldn't read minds when he wanted to. She decided to worry about that later and answer his question, "Yes please." Nia giggled again, "I never thought I'd be having a conversation with Prince Loki about my cat."

"Nor I, believe me." Loki rolled his eyes, which landed on her open closet. "Did any of the dresses fit you?"

"Oh, I hadn't tried them. But judging by the looks of them they will all be too large." Nia scrunched up her nose.

"Yes, you do have a rather small figure." Loki observed.

Nia huffed. She turned away and began idly walking about her new chambers. "So you're allowed to come in here and bother me whenever you like?"

"Of course," he scoffed, "We're to be wed, Love. Soon we'll share the same chambers." Loki considered her look of terror for a minute, "Unless you find me so revolting you'd rather live separate lives forever." He finished, twirling his ring.

Nia recovered herself; "I do not find you at all revolting, far from it. You just caught me off guard; just as I begin to get used to this new idea of life, it all becomes suffocating, it feels as though I can't breathe. I need time to get used to this." She tried explaining, but the Prince, already offended had gone to leave.

Hand on the doorknob he said quietly, "I'll get your cat tomorrow."


	2. Chapter 2

Water

Chapter 2

Loki had to think carefully about the reason why he was currently walking through the palace corridors with a large fluffy orange tabby cat in his arms; _it's for the girl, Nia, remember; you need her to like you._ He sighed as he saw Thor approaching.

"What have you got there, brother?" Thor boomed.

"A cat." Loki made a face.

"Why have you got a cat?" Thor laughed.

Loki grit his teeth, "It's the girl's."

"Ah! Your beloved wanted a kitty and you delivered! How thoughtful you are brother." Thor was laughing hard now; he couldn't believe Loki would ever stoop to such a level as retrieving a girl's cat for her. That thought just made him laugh harder.

Gripping the cat tightly as it squirmed, Loki gasped as the cat scratched his hand; releasing the cat he promptly stuck his scratched fingers in his mouth.

Thor roared with laughter.

"Well now because of you, the cat has run off. So you must help me catch it." Loki looked soberly at his brother.

Thor stopped, "Well Loki, if you hadn't gotten upset, I'm sure the cat would still be in your grip." He argued.

"Thor, you are going to help me find that bloody cat." Loki growled.

"Oh fine then, but let's hurry, it's almost time for lunch."

It was far past lunch, nearly dinnertime when Thor finally called it quits and Loki followed suit. He was not looking forward to having to tell Nia that he had lost her cat, the one thing she had wanted from her old home, he was sure she would cry and he was not wanting to deal with crying maidens. Loki knocked on her door, there was no answer, so he knocked again, _Maybe she's in the bath_ he thought. He opened the door and walked in to see Nia curled up on her enormous bed, with a fluffy orange thing tucked into her side. On closer inspection Loki saw that it was the demon cat.

He coughed, she still didn't wake up, so he opted for shaking her.

Nia woke with a start, "Oh, Loki, hello." She rubbed her eyes and smiled at the cat lying next to her, amber eyes now open and alert. "I see you brought Freyja here for me." She smiled.

"Err yes." Loki couldn't believe the cat had come up here, all the time Thor and him had spent looking for the blasted thing and it was with Nia all along.

"She was awfully happy when I found her lurking outside my chamber door." Nia gave Loki a sideways glance, "Did you just leave her there?"

"Well no, you see she scratched me, and I dropped her…" He stopped when he heard Nia gasp, "The bloody monster was fine, thanks for the concern for my fingers though," Loki snapped, "Anyways, she ran off so I got Thor to help me look for it all day. We finally gave up just for me to come up here and see it had already found its way to you." Loki was glaring daggers at the cat.

Nia just laughed, "I have to dress for dinner Loki, my parents are coming tonight." She ushered him out. As soon as the door shut her façade fell, she had been feeling quite miserable all day, thoughts of her parents and Marcus kept her mind occupied. Her parents would be without doubt ecstatic that the Prince had chosen her; their daughter a Princess. And Marcus would be devastated, she felt a pain in her chest as she thought of Marcus; his sweet kisses he had given her, the thoughtful evening trips he planned for them. She sighed as she put a different dress on. Loki was nice so far; he wasn't at all how the rumors had made him out, conniving, sneaky and cruel. _It could be worse._ She kept telling herself; eventually the words would ring true.

The table that evening was loud and boisterous, Nia's parents were overjoyed at the younger Prince's choice (although in their opinion it was quite far fetched, neither of them ever thought Nia would amount to much). There was a lot of wine being drunk and stories being told, most by the parents at the table. Loki was getting quite bored; he had to admit as he twirled his fork between his fingers. He could see the anxiety all over Nia's face as she tried very hard to control herself. Smiling, Loki pushed a glass of wine to her, she shook her head, _drink it_ he said in her mind. Nia's eyes widened and she stared at him for a moment, unable to comprehend what had just happened. She finally reached for the glass and finished it in a few quick gulps. Loki poured her another glass, it wasn't until he had poured the fourth one that he smirked, "My Lady, I do think you should ease up on the wine, don't you? You're going to become more drunk than our dear mothers, and take a look at them."

Indeed Frigga and Aryne were well into their 5th or 6th glasses and laughing hysterically about some story Thor had just told them. Nia just shook her head vigorously, "Loki, take me to bed." She whispered.

Loki figured it was already well into the night and would be appropriate for the two of them to retire to their separate chambers. He raised a brow at her however, determined to play her a little, "Really Love, to bed with me?"

Nia gasped, "Oh Loki! Not like that at all! I want to go to sleep, I'm so sleepy."

"Oh Nia, the things you deny me." Loki took her hand and rose from his chair, he lead her around the table as to say goodnight to both sets of parents. Frigga and Aryne managed to get weepy over their "little babies" growing old and getting married (although there currently was no date for marriage set), and finally, after a catcall from his brother, Loki scowling lead Nia away from the dining hall.

"I will kill my brother one of these days." Loki seethed.

"Oh Loki, don't say those things." Nia wobbled and nearly fell over.

Rolling his eyes Loki sighed, "Only our second night betrothed and I'm already carrying you drunk up to your bedroom." He joked as he put an arm around her waist supporting her weight.

"Oh Loki! I promise you'll never have to do this again! I'm so sorry, I'm not even your wife yet and I'm already terrible at it." Nia was beginning to get weepy, so Loki quickly diverted her.

"Nia, aren't you happy that your cat will be there for you once you get in bed?" he was only half teasing now, however she took no noticed of the jest.

"Yes! I am so happy you brought Frejya here for me! Thank you so much Loki." Nia sighed happily into his shoulder.

Loki just shook his head, how in the Nine Realms did he ever end up _choosing_this one, surely the others would have been fine being left on their own, they wouldn't have had to be babysat while their parents were both in the hall drunk off their asses. Loki shook his head as he opened her door, expecting to just drop her off at her room and go on to his; but she didn't let go of his hand.

Nia fell on top of her bed fully clothed and curled herself around Freyja. "The only thing from home," she whispered as she stroked the cat's head.

Loki wasn't sure if he should leave or not. But as he made his way towards her door Nia called out to him, "Wait, Loki." Loki stared at the ceiling for a solid 30 seconds before replying.

"Yes, Princess?"

"Help me take my dress off, I can't find the buttons." She slurred.

Loki then squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his fists, "You do tempt me." He hissed under his breath as he turned to help her.

Nia was sitting upright and swaying softly. "You are an idiot, you know." Loki stated.

Pouting Nia shook her head in defiance, her bottom lip sticking out. He reached down and flicked her lip, "Hey!" She exclaimed as she sucked on her lip.

"If I'm going to undress you and not get to bed you, don't have an attitude." He stuck his tongue out.

Nia stared at him critically, "No one ever told me you had a sense of humor."

"I do to! I play lots of tricks." Loki grinned.

"Tricks aren't a sense of humor, besides your tricks usually end up with someone hurt." Nia argued.

Loki shushed her and stood her up and spun her around. He began unbuttoning her dress. The dress fell to the floor, Loki bent to pick it up and put it away without even looking at her.

"My corset." Nia whined.

"For God's sake." Loki cursed. Nia giggled. "What's so funny?" Loki asked.

"Well you're cursing a god, yet you are one. Isn't that funny." Nia laughed.

"No its not." Loki said, unlacing her corset. Finally that too fell to the floor, this time Loki didn't bend to retrieve it, he was looking at her exposed back. Loki was surprised to see she didn't really care about him seeing her, she lay back down on the bed in a pair of underwear and he hastily covered her with a blanket.

"Loki," Nia said softly, she was sleepy with wine.

"Yes, Nia."

"You'll take care of me, right? Better than Marcus would have?" Her voice trembled.

Loki tried very hard to contain his exasperated sigh, "Yes, Love, I'll look after you." Although he couldn't help but think that Marcus must be the man she had been secretly courted by.

"Why did you choose me? Was it really because I am crazy?"

Now Loki laughed, "No Little One, I chose you because you have magic inside of you." He smiled.

"Oh, magic?"

"Yes, magic, we'll experiment one day to see what kind of magic. I am mostly good with air magic, but I learned how to control all of the elements, you will probably have one element that stands out too." He explained only to look down and see Nia was fast asleep, Loki just shook his head and let her sleep on. This was proving to be an interesting choice on his part.


	3. Chapter 3

Water

Chapter 3

Loki was lying on his bed with his arms folded under his head just thinking. It had been a month since Nia had come to live at the palace as his betrothed; however it didn't feel as though they were to be wed, they hadn't had any "romantic" moments, only laughs. He had been surprised to find that Nia had quite a sense of humor that he cold easily warp to his own, she was quite easily manipulated when she didn't know it was happening.

He got up and began to dress, he was to pick Nia up in a few minutes; they had fallen into a sort of routine, Loki would pick Nia up from her quarters and they would go down to breakfast together, and then they would go up the library and spend a few hours there. Nia had been focusing on harnessing her magic; so far she hadn't gotten anywhere. Loki was proud of how determined she had become to excel at magic, he was pretty sure that she just needed to be in her element, obviously air wasn't for her.

It was raining, absolutely soaking all of Asgard. Loki was feeling glum that day, the rain had just set him off, but he dutifully walked to Nia's room although all he really wanted was to lie in bed all day. He knocked on the heavy door and awaited her arrival. However when she opened the door he was not greeted by a bright-faced Nia as per usual, but instead a girl who obviously hadn't slept much the prior night.

"Please Loki, can I just go back to bed. I don't want to do anything today." Nia inquired,

"Oh good, we have the same mindset today." Loki invited himself in and laid on her bed with his ankles crossed and his arms again folded under his head. Nia just sighed and joined him.

They lay there idly talking with Loki practicing magic at intervals. Nia was beginning to get frustrated with the fact that she could handle the magic that Loki had seen in her. He had told her that he could see it flare up once in a while when she was practicing; she just couldn't grasp it to manipulate it. Determination flooded her at that moment.

"I'm going to try." She said raising her hands above her.

Loki propped himself up on one elbow so he was lying on his side watching her. He watched her face screw up in concentration, as she struggled to grasp the magic that seemed just beyond her. But he saw a burst of blue rise up in her, as she seemed to finally take hold of it.

Sure enough, her eyes lit up as a ball of water appeared between her hands, she began thinking of what she wanted the water to do, and it obeyed her. Nia had never felt so empowered. She glanced over at Loki and was surprised to see him grinning back at her.

"It's from the rain, you're surrounded in your element now, water is falling all around you." Loki explained.

Loki felt a slight feeling of apprehension as he saw a familiar smirk slide across Nia's face, it diminished as he continued to watch her control the water. Then suddenly the water shot at him, soaking his hair and face.

"Nia!" Loki spluttered. Nia laughed and took off, understanding full well Loki would be getting immediate revenge. She flew out of her room and down the hall, she felt so alive, she could still feel the magic coursing through her.

Loki's nearing footfalls brought her back to reality, she continued running. Finally she slowed, her legs burned. Loki was there in an instant he grabbed her from behind, and Nia emitted a squeal as he lifted her off her feet.

"Are you going to keep running?" Loki whispered.

"Of course not, my Prince," the comment was laced with sarcasm, but there was a smile spread across her face.

"Whatever am I going to do with you Little Princess?" Loki drawled, contemplating her fate.

"Hmm, I'm not sure." Nia wiggled her feet onto the floor and turned to face him, still smiling. However her smile faltered when she saw Loki's facial expression; he was looking at her with a type of hunger she had never seen on a man's face when looking at her, his gaze was narrowed and his green eyes were burning. She suddenly felt as though she had crossed some sort of line. This was it; this was the moment, the moment where he would kiss her. She felt her nerves clam up; Loki was closer to her now, what was that noise?

"Calm down, Nia. You're hyperventilating." Loki leaned away from her with his head slightly tilted up; he crossed his arms and glared at her.

Nia finally calmed down enough to look up at him, "I'm sorry Loki."

He just shook his head, "Your heart still belongs to that warrior. I understand. However, you need to understand that we will be wed, and you will be mine, despite the fact that you may still love another man." Loki came closer to her and looked down at her, "It'll be easier on everyone if you could come to terms with your feelings so there is no more confusion."

Nia had never been looked at with such coldness, Loki had flipped like a switch so suddenly, he had been holding her, about to kiss her, and then because of her reaction he flipped to being cold and shut off. With tears streaming down her face as she walked slowly back up to her chambers and locked herself in.

Loki was sure he had made her cry, of that he was positive. He felt like a bit of a bully, but he quickly pushed those feelings down, she had rejected him.

"Brother, why the sour face?" Thor appeared suddenly (Loki still had no idea how Thor had snuck up on him).

"Nothing you could help me with." Loki sneered.

"Of come now, Loki, I am our brother! Indulge me in my believing that we still get along." Thor all but begged.

Loki rolled his eyes dramatically and caved, "I've upset Nia."

Thor laughed, "Wow, you managed to not upset her for a whole month! This is the first time you've upset her? It's a miracle."

Glaring at his brother Loki continued, "Well she upset me first." He said begrudgingly.

"How did she do that?" Thor asked, now genuinely concerned. He knew that Loki didn't get easily upset.

"She was in love prior to coming here. She will never come close to loving me. I have come in second again." Loki admitted.

Thor's brow furrowed, he hated it when his brother got down on himself, "There was another? But Father made sure all the girls had to have had no current suitor in order to come here."

"Yes well he wasn't officially courting her. They met through a mutual friend and began seeing each other in secret. Her parents would never have approved of her being courted by a warrior of the court." Loki said through clenched teeth.

"Well there's nothing wrong with being a warrior!" Thro exclaimed.

"Brother, he is a mere foot soldier, he hasn't made a name for himself. He is basically nothing." Loki said.

"Well still… Why don't you give the girl some more time, she's only been here a short time, I'm sure she'll warm up to you yet." Thor clasped Loki on the back. "Come have a drink with me and the Warriors Three, you seem to need it."

Loki usually denied Thor's invites, but tonight he felt like indulging.

Nia was sitting on the bench by her window, breathing on it and then drawing in the fog and then using magic to make the droplets of water clear her picture away. She had really messed up, in the past month she had gotten to know Loki and grown to like him; she genuinely enjoyed his company, but she didn't love him. She couldn't help but wonder vaguely what love was, had she actually loved Marcus? She wasn't sure, he would have been her first lover, how would she know any better. She sighed; she wanted to see Marcus, just to get some closure so she could move on with her life. Loki was her future now; she needed to dispel any feelings she had for Marcus.

She began thinking of Loki, he had been kind to her, a few snide remarks, but he had never intentionally hurt her. Freyja then chose to jump up onto her lap.

"I have to fix this, don't I?" she asked the cat, Freyja purred in response. "Oh alright, I shouldn't have done that to Loki today, he has been nothing but kind to me. I think maybe I'll go find Marcus and speak my peace and move on. After I speak with Marcus and tell him I'm happy with my new life then I will be able to move forward." With a spurred determination Nia stood up and fetched her cloak, wrapped it securely around her neck she left her room.

Nia found her way to the stable and asked the young stable boy for a steady horse. A grey mare was lead out for her, she thanked him and mounted the horse and was on her way. She easily found her way to Marcus' home; he lived with four other young men who were also soldiers. She dismounted and knocked on the door.

"How can I help you?" a young dark haired man asked.

"I'm here to see Marcus." Nia said, keeping her hood up.

He eyed her warily and then shut the door; she heard a bellow and footsteps stomping down the stairs. Marcus opened the door; she quickly grabbed him and towed him to an ally. She let her hood fall away.

"Nia." He breathed.

She smiled at his voice; suddenly she noticed things about Marcus she had never seen before, like how he looked nothing like Loki and that bothered her.

"Have you escaped?" He asked excitedly.

"Escaped?" She questioned.

"Yes! From the evil Prince Loki!" Marcus looked angry now.

"Of course not! I was never being held against my will." Nia stated, hands on her hips. "Loki and the rest of the Royal Family have never treated me wrongly."

Marcus looked confused, "So you don't want to run away with me?"

"No!" Nina exclaimed, "I just wanted to let you know that I m happy in my new life and I wish for you to be happy in yours." She finished; she was beginning to get uncomfortable.

"So you're just going to leave me now that a better offer came along?" Marcus demanded.

"Loki wasn't a better offer, my parents didn't know of your courtship so they saw fit to send me there, I was just lucky he chose me I suppose." Nia said slowly backing away.

"And what does your Prince think of you secretly courting a foot soldier?" Marcus sneered.

Nia was getting angry now, "He didn't judge me, I've told him everything and he has never judged me."

"Oh please, Prince Loki is not the forgiving type, he's a cruel person who doesn't deserve you." He scoffed.

"Marcus, you need to stop saying these things. I really don't appreciate you talking about Loki that way, he has taught me a lot and I am far from hating him as you think I should." Nia yelled and turned her back, but before she could leave, Marcus shouted at her.

"You should see your gallant Prince and his brother in the local pub! I just came from there; they were having an amazing time without you. Obviously your Prince isn't as devoted to you as you are to him." Marcus shouted.

Nia got on her mare and trotted away, but she couldn't help the niggling feeling eating away at her, she needed to see if Marcus had been lying or not. She dismounted from her horse as they got to the pub, sure enough Thor was there with the Warriors Three, they were all drinking and each had a maiden at his side, then she saw Loki, he too had a mug in his hand, he too had a maiden at his side. Nia almost brushed it off as a girl hoping too much for a Prince, but then Loki dipped his head and kissed the girl on the mouth.

Anger swept through her, like it never had before. Nia recognized the power she felt, her anger was influencing her magic. The window she was standing in front of shattered. There was just enough time for Nia to catch Loki's eye as she leapt onto the grey mare and took off.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Here we go guys, Chapter 4!**

Water

Chapter 4

Loki watched Nia flee and as much as he knew he should be feeling shame, he felt nothing but satisfaction; she was angry with him. She was upset with him kissing another girl, maybe she'll have learned her lesson to not reject him.

"Bad luck, Brother." Thor frowned.

"Oh it's not over yet. Far from it if I can help it." Loki couldn't help the smile that stretched over his face. He left the pub and began heading back to the palace, surely the girl had gone back to her room.

But when he got to her chambers, there was no one there, only Freyja laid sprawled out on the large bed. _Hmm_ Loki thought, now where could she be? He looked in the library and the tower where the frequently practiced magic and nothing. Loki wracked his brain, suddenly it clicked, she had a grey mare with her when she had fled the pub, and maybe she was still with the mare.

Nia was brushing the grey mare with a soft bristle brush, gently getting rid of the sweat that had dried on her coat from the hard ride Nia had put her through. She couldn't believe the feelings that seeing Loki kiss another girl had invoked, not that he had ever kissed her; she had rejected him. She sighed loudly still trying to decide how she felt about the whole situation. If Loki never loved her would they always have separate lovers and only be a couple in the eye of Asgard. She didn't want that.

But how could he ever love her, even though she know knew about her own feelings it didn't matter. But she knew what she had entered into when her father told her the Prince wanted her amongst those to be chosen. Maybe she should just speak to him about it, maybe it was all a misunderstanding, yet she could swallow the feelings of betrayal and anger that threatened her every time she pictured Loki with another women. Suddenly a thought popped into her head, was that the first time? Or had he been off with other women the whole month she had been betrothed to him? Tears began welling in the corner of her eyes and no mater how furiously she tried blinking them away they cascaded down her face. Sobs came next, she felt a chill creep up her spin and the last remainders of magic left within her left taking her strength with her. She kissed the mare's velvet nose and left to go sleep before she fainted in the stall.

Loki kept watch as Nia stumbled down the corridors and up the stairs until she finally reached her chambers, he saw her disappear behind the door. He sighed; at least she made it there safely. His arrogance had slowly been diminishing when he saw how much his actions had hurt Nia. Loki felt his satisfaction decrease and his shame increase.

Nia was lying in her too-large bed feeling sick to her stomach. She had ridden the mare in the rain late last night and was feeling the consequences. Her head was spinning every time she attempted to sit up, her stomach was churning and her skin felt cold and clammy to touch but she had thrown her blankets away because she felt hot inside. This was out of place; normal Asgardians healed extremely quickly and hardly ever caught a cold never mind this raging sickness Nia was currently feeling.

Not to mention she was still feeling the angry from the night before. The image of Loki kissing that girl was burned into her mind. She felt so weak and powerless, like mere child unable to tend to itself. Nia heard a faint knock on the door, followed by several louder ones; she couldn't respond before falling into a fever sleep.

Loki woke with an odd feeling in his gut, he couldn't place it; it was almost as though he felt bad about something. His alcohol-addled brain brought back memories of the night before, of seeing Nia in the window and kissing that maiden anyways. He had been trying to prove a point, besides Nia had been out to see her pitiful soldier. Now he could confirm her feelings for him, it may not be love, but she had definitely been angry.

Thinking hard about the strange feeling inside him, he made his way to Nia's room where he knocked on the door softly, when there was no response he knocked louder. He remembered her crying with mare and decided to give her some time to herself so he left for breakfast without her.

Sitting down at the table with an empty seat to his right felt odd, again Loki couldn't place it. Frigga cocked her head at him, "Where's Nia this morning?"

"She isn't feeling well I'd assume." He growled, throwing a glare at Thor, who had just opened his mouth to say something, undoubtedly about last night.

"Well, I'll send a maid to her." Frigga waved a hand and called a girl to her and sent her to Nia's room.

Loki just shook his head and stared at his plate, he listened to the idle chatter of his family until he couldn't take it anymore. He stood up and left. As he was walking towards Nia's quarters the handmaid Frigga had sent came scurrying by, "Wait," Loki grabbed her arm. The girl emitted a pitiful squeak, "How is she?"

"Your Highness," the girl quickly bowed before continuing, "She was not well at all, and I am going to inform the Queen so a healer can be brought to her."

Loki nodded and the girl scampered off. He made his way quickly to Nia's room where he knocked once and when it went unanswered he walked in. She was a terrible sight, her forehead was sweaty and her hair messy, she had the blankets pushed away leaving her exposed. As Loki drew nearer he saw how pale she was, white like snow, the feeling in his gut clenched. He understood the feeling, remorse and regret. Loki did not regret things on principle, but at that moment he regretted testing Nia. He sighed and sat on the edge of her bed, "Nia, love, are you awake?" he asked softly.

Nia whimpered and opened a bleary eye, "Loki, I feel so sick."

"It's probably due to the extreme amount of energy you used on your magic last night, not to mention being out in the cold rain." Loki felt his chest tighten uncomfortably, it was his fault she was sick. Blame rained down on him, when had he ever felt responsible for something bad happening, bad things happened to others on a result of his actions quite often, yet he had never felt badly about them.

He combed her hair out of her face and attempted to make her comfortable. Her skin felt like ice so he drew the blankets up.

"No please, I am so hot." Nia tried to push away the blankets.

"Love, your skin is freezing." Loki insisted and continued tucking her in. She just shook her head. He leaned down and kissed her forehead softly, "Come along now, you'll be alright in a little while."

"When I feel physically better I promise to hit you." Nia relied weakly.

Loki couldn't help but chuckle weakly.

"You made me feel like fool." She squeezed her eyes shut. "I stood up for you to Marcus and then he tells me that you have no feelings for me, but I insist that you are honorable. Then I see you kissing that whore." Nia's weak voice was filled with contempt. "I hate you."

Shaking his head Loki couldn't stop the sick feelings rising inside of him. He got up and left when he saw his mother and the healer walk in. Frigga gave him a confused look as she watched him leave; he just ignored her and continued walking.

He just had to choose the girl that would invoke feelings like this. He couldn't have chosen the stupid girl who would have played along nicely; he had to have chosen the girl who was different and interesting. He scowled, why couldn't life be easy? He was brought out of his thoughts by voices coming up ahead.

"She looked like death itself." He heard a female voice mutter.

"Yes well, I heard Prince Loki didn't want to marry her in the first place, I bet he did it to her." A second female replied.

Loki turned the corner, a look of anger very evident on his face, "I suggest you not spread nasty rumors and run along before I have you both killed." He sneered. Both girls froze and stared at him in shock. He rolled his eyes, "I mean it." They darted away from him in an instant.

There words stuck with him. _"She looked like death itself."_ Fear gripped Loki's chest, what if she did die? Magic could be cruel to a beginner who let it get out of hand; and she had performed a copious amount of magic that night, not to mention riding in the cold and rain. He went quickly to her room, he couldn't let her go through this by herself, he had to make sure she saw this through, this was one person's blood he did not want on his hands.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I know some of you just read this chapter, but as I began to work on Chapter 6 I just couldn't. It was all wrong and I didn't capture Nia's character very well :( I apologize. Here's a new version of the chapter, one I like much better! I will post the alternate Chapter 5 as a separate one shot. Thanks! Please enjoy this new updated chapter :D**

Water

Chapter 5

Nia was tossing and turning, her temperature rising steadily throughout the second night of her being ill. The healers had done as much as they could and had determined they could do nothing more, as Loki sat next to her holding her hand to say her life was in the hand's of a God was a little cruel. Frigga had just left them, promising Loki to be back in the morning, nothing was comforting him, nothing but Nia waking up and being okay would make him feel better. As he watched his intended's condition fall he felt the weight of her illness fall upon him. Her magic had been too strong for her body and given the cold temperatures and wet weather conditions it was no wonder she was sick, and it was his fault.

"Nia, darling, please be okay, please wake up. I promise I'll never do anything stupid like this again. Or at least I'll apologize before you get hurt, okay?" He couldn't help the constant murmuring to her, he hoped she could hear him and wake up the next time he asked her to.

It had been three days, it was going on the fourth night Nia hadn't been properly awake, she had in her fever mumbled unintelligible things, but she hadn't regained conscious. Loki had finally been convinced to leave her for a few hours to "take care" of himself, as Frigga put it. As Frigga sat at Nia's bedside, just as her son had demanded, she couldn't help but shake her head at the girl lying in the bed. She couldn't believe this girl had wiggled her way into Loki's life so thoroughly that he had all these feelings for her; whether they be love or only a step away.

Frigga heard a soft mumble from Nia, however unlike before her eyes opened blearily, blinking owlishly Nia fully opened her eyes and looked around her. "Ah my dear, it is so good of you to join the living again." Frigga smiled, "Loki will be so pleased." Frigga watched Nia's now alert face fall, "What's wrong dear?"

"I do not want to see him." Nia said in a raspy voice.

Just as she spoke, the door to her room entered, "There Mother, I have 'taken care of myself' can I please…" Loki saw Nia awake and stopped in midsentence. He watched her emotions change from those of affection to confusion and settling on anger.

"Loki, if I could hit you right now, I would. So leave me be." Nia said.

"Wait, let me explain."

"There's no explaining. I saw what happened, and I regret to inform you that you had hurt me earlier that day, granted the words you said were because of my confused feelings, however you upset me and I realized I needed to sort myself out. So I did, and I happened upon you and your friends drinking and _kissing_ bar maids! How dare you say 'Let me explain' when I tried to right my wrong and you just made yours worse!" Nia was yelling now.

Frigga pushed her back down, "You need to rest, you've only just woken up after three days of being ill. I will speak to my son." Frigga turned to look at Loki who suddenly felt his impending doom; his mother was looking at him with disappointment greater than he had ever seen before.

"Loki how could you do that?" Frigga demanded after hearing the whole story from him. "Such a sweet girl and look what you've done, all because you had to _get even_." She hissed, "I'm ashamed of you. A grown man wouldn't do this to his future wife, a boy maybe. You need to beg her for mercy, beg her to take you back. Maybe some humility will do you good."

He tried to squirm away from her line of vision, this was not a conversation he wanted to have with his mother, why couldn't Nia have yelled at him after Frigga had left. "Mother, I already feel badly about how my actions affected Nia, please leave us and let me speak to her." Frigga gave Loki one last hard look before walking away. It had been quite a while since Frigga had sounded so disappointed in him, a very long while.

Loki let out a sigh and made to enter Nia's room, as he entered he saw Nia was sitting up now with a wet cloth draped across her forehead. Her face set into a glare as soon as she spotted him.

"I thought I told you to let me be?" She said shortly.

"I've decided to offer my apology." Loki tried to convey is sincerity in his voice.

"No!" Nia shouted. Loki had never seen her emotions govern her tongue like that, she was usually so collected; this was a side of Nia he had never seen.

"Nia, please." He tried to calm her, but it appeared him speaking just stoked the fire. She leapt to her feet and despite her obvious exhaustion she was fueled on by rage and hurt. Loki couldn't believe when she began pounding her fists against him, it actually hurt a little bit. He almost could have laughed at her futile efforts to physically hurt him enough to make up for her emotional pain, except Nia had started crying. Loki grabbed her wrists and held them close to his sides; once he interrupted all the fight left her, she slumped against him.

"I can't believe you did that to me." She wept.

"I can't believe you almost died because of how stupid I was." Loki let go of her wrists and cupped her face with both his hands. "I am so sorry." He whispered fiercely. "Please don't leave me again. I can't promise you to never act stupidly again, but I can promise to listen to you if you try to stop me. I don't usually listen to anyone, I know; but just try to get through to me. I don't ever want to be scared like this again." She didn't interrupt his monologue as he made to continue. "I never thought I could be scared of losing someone, especially someone I've only known for a short period. I still cannot believe that out of all the Aesir women I could have chosen to be my partner that you just so happened to be there in that room and thinking of your cat instead of Thor." Loki couldn't help the choked laugh.

Nia was watching him closely, she did sense his remorse, but she also understood that he did not lie to her, he was going to make more stupid decisions and she had to decide if she wanted to commit to this broken mess of a man. As she watched Loki all but bear his soul to her, she realized what state he had been in while she had been sick. His words rung with truth, he had actually been frightened of losing her. She reached up and took his hands from her face, "Come to bed with me?" She asked, never letting go of his hands.

Loki swept her up bridal style and carried her to his room that was down the hall from hers. "Would you like a bath first?" He asked.

She nodded, Loki set her down and she padded quietly to his bathroom, "I'll be quick."

He couldn't help the anxiety that came next, was she okay? Did she fall? Did she faint? He was about to start banging on the door when Nia came out and walked to his bed.

"I'm so tired, I need a real sleep filled with good dreams." Nia yawned.

He undressed quickly and got in bed on the other side, he wasn't sure exactly what to do. Was she still upset with him, could he touch her? He would really like to hold her.

"Loki,"

"Hmm?"

"I'm not angry anymore, I'm still a little bit upset, but I promise that will go away soon. Please come closer."

He scooted closer to her, Nia closed to small gap and wrapped her arms around his middle and snuggled against his chest. "This is fine right here." She sighed.

"Alright." Loki said wide-eyed, he kissed the top of her head and settled in next to her.

Finally a sense of peace washed over him, Loki felt his mind begin to wander, and slowly sleep overtook him.


End file.
